Thursday, June 21, 2012

One Does Not Simply Walk into Mordor!

Or does one?

In the endless battle over the geeking of the the sons; a hit, a noble hit has been scored.

See, Beloved's youngest sister is getting married, kinda. Japanese weddings are a bit different from their counterparts in the West. They mean nothing, legally. In Japan, a marriage happens when a bride and groom wander down to the local city office and fill out various forms, once they've been accepted, you're hitched. Any ceremony that you want to have is besides the matter and can be dealt with at any time.

So Beloved'd sister and her husband got married back in March, but they're going to have their ceremony this weekend. Said ceremony is going to be Western style and Makoto gets to be the ring-bearer.

Now this came from Beloved's and mine's wedding. We were married in the States as Beloved wanted to show her family what a real Western wedding entails (Japanese ideas for it are... interesting. The groom's friends and the groom dressing like AKB48 and dancing in front of the bride and guest was a fun highlight of a wedding I went to). While I lacked any young male relatives, my cousin had a daughter just the right age for being the flower girl and she charmed the socks off of Beloved's family.

Sadly, while Beloved's nice is a bit too young for flower girl duty, Makoto is the perfect age for being a ring-bearer. Makoto of course is excited as can be because he's going to be able to be in the wedding. There is just one slight problem, what's a ring-bearer?

To side track a bit, when I was about Makoto's age, I too was to be a ring-bearer at my uncle's wedding. I also was more than slightly confused at what the job entailed and made the leap that it wasn't a ring-bearer, but a ring-bear was what I was going to be. My plan was to hang out in the bushes in the backyard and leap out at the guests, growling at them. I was somewhat disappointed to find out that the job entailed nothing of the sort and that I would be given the job of carrying a silk pillow, not scaring people.

From that experience, I could understand why my son would be slightly confused as to just what it is was that he will be doing so when he asked... Well, a good father would probably have sat his son down and explained just what would happen. But while I might be a good father, I'm also a geek Daddy and ring-bearer... That has a bit of a different meaning for me, which lead to the following exchange:

Me: We're gonna ride the train this weekend.Makoto: Why?Me: We going to go to your aunt's wedding, remember? You're going to be the ring bearer!Makoto: ... What do I have to do, Daddy?Me: Well... You've got to put the ring on a gold chain, then after walking into Mordor, find a volcano and toss it in, ok?Makoto: *Thinking for a bit* Ok Daddy!

This would be the best wedding clothes

Now in my own defense, I will say that Makoto stands at about 100 cm (3.25ft) which is just about the right height for a Hobbit and, while I'm sure he's going to be looking snazzy in his shirt, tie, and dress shoes; I personally think that a cloak from Lothlórien would look even better!

Beloved of course took a somewhat dimmer view and I have been informed that if Makoto throws the weddings rings it will be MY fault!

Makoto of course has taken the whole thing in stride and is rather excited. Of course, now he keeps asking me just where we're going to find a volcano and if, perhaps, one could be packed in the suitcase just to make sure we have it.

I have scored in the geek wars. And we don't have to walk to the wedding either.